Effects of plasma configuration, ELM and gas puffing on LHW coupling during H-mode in EAST

Abstract

Couplings of lower hybrid wave (LHW) with different divertor configurations are studied in EAST. With an anti-clockwise toroidal magnetic field and similar plasma parameters, experimental results show that the best coupling occurs in the lower single null (LSN) configuration, whereas the worst occurs in the double-null plasma. Furthermore, for the case of clockwise toroidal magnetic field, the coupling of LHW becomes better in the upper single null configuration and worse in the LSN plasma. Such phenomena show that the LHW coupling with different divertor configurations is possibly related to the flux induced by Er × Bt and edge recycling intensity represented by Da, where Er is the radial electric field in the scrape-off layer. In addition, various edge-localized modes (ELMs), including its intensity and frequency, have impacts on LHW coupling. With increasing ELM frequency in low edge recycling, the intensity of Da would decrease and the associated coupling of LHW should deteriorate. For the case of comparable edge density, the coupling of LHW is almost not influenced by the ELM crash. Results indicate that the changes among Da intensity, ELM frequency and the reflection coefficients of LHW power are self-consistent. Studies show that by gas puffing the nearby LH grill can improve the coupling of LHW during H-mode in EAST. Meanwhile, it is observed that the frequency of ELM should decrease and the plasma confinement should be improved with proper gas puffing, whereas excessive gas puffing should increase the frequency of ELM during H-mode in the case of good LHW coupling. Results also indicate a degradation in confinement performance at increasing puffing rate.